Thesis guide booklet 2014 pages

tulane school of architecture

Exhibition of Thesis Projects2013-2014

a catalog of thesis projects created by the tulane school of architecture master of architecture candidates for 2014

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thesis class of 2013—2014

An Architectural ThesisEach of the Thesis Projects presented in this exhibition was developed in two consecutive courses over the fall of 2013 and spring of 2014. In the three credit fall course, students researched an architectural topic and developed a thesis able to be explored through design. Students en-tered the spring semester design studio course with a provisional thesis explored and elaborated through the design of a specific program and site. In both semesters, each student was guided by one of the following faculty members.

John Klingman, RAFavrot Professor of ArchitectureThesis Coordinator

Errol Barron, FAIAProfessor and Richard Koch Chair of Architecture

Scott Bernhard, AIAJean and Saul A. Mintz Associate Professor

Graham Owen, RA, OAA, NCARBAssociate Professor of Architecture

Cordula Roser-Gray, AIAProfessor of Practice

Thesis Project SummariesEach of the thesis students below has created a one-page illustrated sum-mary of their Thesis project presented on the following pages of this booklet:

student page location thesisprofessorAkerley, Daniel 08 32 BarronAmato, Evan 09 L-06 BernhardBaker, Madison 10 34 Roser-GrayBemis, Casey 11 36 BernhardBorell, Andrew 12 L-13 KlingmanBullock, Mary Catherine 13 L-03 OwenCarroll, Alison 14 11 BarronCarroll, Michelle 15 L-05 Roser-GrayConques, Rachel 16 10 BernhardCox, Christopher 17 L-14 Barron Coyle Jr., John 18 07 KlingmanCreim, Libby 19 17 BernhardCroft, Ray 20 L-01 BarronCui, Wanhao 21 20 OwenCumming, Sarah 22 19 Roser-GrayDiacon-Furtado, Natan 23 L-09 OwenEasley, Margaret 24 L-12 BernhardEdwards, Gage 25 37 Barron Finan, Michelle 26 25 Roser-GrayFutagoishi, Miko 27 31 KlingmanGauthier, Trenton 28 35 OwenGreen, Emily 29 L-07 Roser-GrayGrossman, Elisha 30 06 KlingmanHaskell, Annelise 31 26 Roser-GrayHauck, Drew 32 L-02 KlingmanHearle, Ellen 33 29 BernhardJasinski, Emma 34 24 BernhardJavadi, Bahareh 35 L-17 Bernhard


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Korndoerfer, Kristen 36 01 BernhardKovacevic, Elizabeth 37 21 OwenLacroix, Beau 38 15 KlingmanLeach, Katlyn 39 28 KlingmanLongano, Melissa 40 12 BarronLuxner, Kate 41 L-16 Owen Mathieu, Gregory 42 33 OwenMcDonald, Daniel 43 08 BarronMorris, Evan 44 L-04 Roser-GrayMosby, Robert 45 18 OwenMu, Kathy 46 L-11 Roser-GrayNamaky, David 47 38 Roser-GrayNemitoff, William 48 22 OwenNg, Tayson 49 14 KlingmanPalmadessa, Dennis 50 02 BarronRyan, Kyle 51 23 BarronSatterlee, Sarah 52 L-15 Roser-GraySchenker, Aaron 53 03 BarronSchmitt, Kevin 54 27 Roser-GraySchuff, Katherine 55 30 KlingmanShepard, Dorothy 56 L-08 BernhardSkoda, Matthew 57 05 KlingmanSoomro, Alia 58 04 OwenVelle, Lucas 59 13 BarronWaterman, Jack 60 39 KlingmanWerner, Katie 61 L-10 BernhardXiong, Fan 62 16 KlingmanZelenka, Meredith 63 09 Roser-Gray

student page location thesisprofessor


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Thesis Exhibit Plansecond floor of richardson memorial hall


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location32


animating the ananimate

digital strategies for big architecture

The New Orleans Convention Center properties upriver of the existing conven-tion center have seen many proposed developments to fill the large empty lots. This proposal aims to extend the existing convetion center by adding convention space and an integrated film animation studio. The proposed building explores the use of animation software to produce a mass that has reacted to applied forces that morph the geometry of the masses and eventually are used to create the architecture in a site responsive way, just as animation characters are re-sponsive to their surrounding forces. The animation software provides an outlet to produce a less stark building and a more organic form to help contextualize the scale of large projects while responding to site conditions.

Description of the thesis project and site:Located along the floodwall of the Mississippi River, the site has a very strong relationship with the river. By elevating the spaces above the floodwall height the users get to experience the strong relationship the building and site have with the river while avoiding potential flooding. The building begins to act as a geometric extension of the existing convention center and then transforms into the organic animated form that houses the new convention spaces, animation studios, theater, and the other components.

Daniel Akerley

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locationL-06

Coastal Recuperation Improving the health of low-lying coastal re-gions through elevation, access and ecosystem symbiosis

Description of the thesis issues or questions:This thesis project will examine the effects of future development and sea level rise on low lying coastal communities along the Gulf Coast. The design solu-tion will seek to deploy a more sustainable means of inhabiting the coast while maintaining a high level of access to the beach and other important coastal attractions. The new area of development will focus, in particular, on the eco-nomic and ecological implications that are associated with building in fragile coastal watershed and beach environments.

Description of the thesis project and site:The site stretches across Orange Beach, Alabama bordering Perdido Beach, Florida. The site was chosen because of its residential & resort development patterns, diverse and fragile ecosystems and its vulnerability to sea level rise and coastal storm events. The project’s program includes a series of intercon-nected, multi-use, residential developments, water reclaiming facilities and a comprehensive boardwalk system which houses artificial reefs, sea grass and sport fish nurseries while providing access to lagoons and barrier islands.

Evan Amato

1.5 inch by 1.5 inch gray-scale photograph showing your face.

page 10page 10


location34

Multi-Surface, Collective Purpose

Reclaiming Urban Public Space in Hot Arid Landscapes, Phoenix, AZ

The surface parking lot, disrupting the urban landscapeThe single surface parking lot produces defunct spaces within the urban land-scape. Due to their mono-functionality and disruption of continued activity and vitality in downtown urban areas, these spaces can be reorganized to incorpo-rate a multifaceted agenda providing important public amenities. This thesis in-vestigates the topology of the urban surface by using the surface parking lot as a point of departure combined with methods of extreme water conservation. The mono-functional urban surface can be transformed to host a multiplicity of functions and be reclaimed as usable public space through the implementation of a multi-surfaced topography, environmental responses, and programmatic coupling.

Coupling to promote programmatic efficiencies and activityThe project is located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona where there is a large per-centage of surface parking lots contributing to an absent urban vibrancy. The proposal aggregates the surface lots to a central site combined with multiple programs that respond to environmental context in order to create a thermally comfortable public space and civic hub. The building performs as a shade structure and a water collection center to create a micro-climatic public space to promote urban activity in the downtown area.

Madison Baker


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�� 2013—2014

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Thesis Title With Capitol Le� ers on Each Word As Is Typical for Titles (two lines max.)

Sub tle located below the tle typically indica ng the program and site informa on (three lines max.)

Descrip� on of the thesis issues or ques� ons:Num rem rerume vel magnis ipsae nume voluptaturem est a es� beaquatur sum, vel mod quassi� um, qui num vendit am dolore quod ella� sint optur, ulparumquis sit harcias molor magnam facepudite peleste caborrovid eius.Num rem rerume vel magnis ipsae nume voluptaturem est a es� beaquatur sum, vel mod quassi� um, qui num vendit am dolore quod ella� sint optur, ulparumquis sit harcias molor magnam facepudite peleste caborrovid eius. Num rem rerume vel magnis ipsae nume voluptaturem est a es� beaquatur sum, vel mod quas-si� um, qui num vendit am dolore quod ella� sint optur. (90-100 words).

Descrip� on of the thesis project and site:Ecus dolorrovid quatque ex eaturio riaspel intur rehendi taquas ea sequiduci-mus nimaximus, conse ped que nobit, cus, offi cae conse conecuptam litata aliam restrum aut as abor aut od que autem asperum as por sum idis expedit, sectur molupta � bus. Labo. Ut pel minvendit et a doluptas excerit anditat emquaecae cores� um ute que et quatemodit aceratur si offi cae et as dolore et endi net asincip sumquia dolor reped maximi, sequi beatur, sunt voluptat. Porum nem es� nis inullorecus, simoluptae. Num rem rerume vel magnis ipsae nume voluptaturem est a es� beaquatur sum, vel quassi� um. (90-100 words).

Madison Baker


One, two or three images helping to illustrate your thesis ideas and/or thesis project. In total, they must occupy this 4.5 x 2.53 space with .125” spaces between if necessary. The images may be in color, but be aware that the booklet may be printed in gray-scale.

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Above the Flood

Placemaking in Elevated Homes in the Flood Prone Urban Context of New Orleans

Raised homes crea� ng voids in urban fabric:In an eff ort to individualize ood protec� on, houses around the city are be-ing raised en� re stories above the ground with li� le regard for what goes on beneath them. Houses that are raised signi cantly create voids in the urban fabric, contribute to a loss of porch culture, and push houses away from the street to accommodate large stairs eff ec� vely changing neighborhoods. With ood insurance costs rising, the nancial advantages of raising a house are signi cant, but there is not yet an architectural or social advantage.

Prefabricated structures in aff ordable home eleva� ng:The four goals of the project are individualized Flood protec� on, sustainability, placemaking, and aff ordablilty. Prefabricated structure are used to provide valu-able porch space, water storage, elevated parking, and an off -grid bathroom while reducing the number of pilings that are required in eleva� ng houses. Each module supports the house above while only res� ng on four helical piles. The prefabricated module can be applied under any home and sa� s es all FEMA codes for enclosures below the base ood eleva� on. The result is a raised home with signi cant savings in ood insurance while protec� ng the much needed porch culture of the city.

Casey Bemis


location36

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locationL-13

Cultivating Memory:

Making the ephemeral tangible through neighborhood archives in the Seventh Ward, New Orleans

Posit the Architecture of Memory:The ephemeral choreography of the everyday defines people and place. Since memory relies heavily on physical objects, the link between memory and physi-cal objects is the primary investigation of this thesis. By maintaining artifacts in close proximity to their points of origin, neighborhoods retain identity and strengthen place.

Investigation into neighborhood specific archives:Working in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans the primary program of a neigh-borhood archive tests the idea of strengthening identity through memory. The site of Hunter’s Field in the Seventh Ward was chosen for its relationship to the elevated highway and the divided neighborhood created by this object. The decommissioned elevated highway acts as an attachment armature for the archive to preserve the object and strengthen the Seventh Ward’s identity.

Andrew Borell



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locationL-03

Embarking New Orleans

Making place for bodies in transit.

Retro-fit Body Space Within a Non-Place or Airport Security :When traveling by air a person who desires mobility must compromise: bodily inconveniences for safety, privilege, motion, freedom or, rather the perception of these intangible objectives. Since 9/11, the inconveniences associated with safety have become a fact of air travel but the space provided for this fact has never been specific. Since its implementation, airport security has been increasingly amplified to the level of delaminating the body in the screening process. The space allotted for security in existing airports is residual circulation space. The retrofit security check point is essentially undesigned.

Landing in the Central Business District :This thesis posits that relocating the airport terminal to the heart of the city it serves creates a new distribution of demands on the space. Architectural design can focus on the bodies that travel. This thesis rethinks the way bodies move through secure and “non-secure” spaces. It re-imagines the departure process and arrival sequence and through this questions the current standard of security practices and offers a new paradigm for the distribution of gateways to mobility within the city. By generating a new type of terminal in a central location, airport security becomes the “main event”, and so too, the terminal within the city of New Orleans.

Mary Catherine Bullock

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location11

A Sentimental Typology

Crafting sensual space through indigenous form

Reinforcing the spirit of place:Buildings that successfully provide people with a connection to human experi-ence and the world are places that allow us to ‘dwell’: the building itself re-cedes to the background, becoming the blank slate upon which our experiences can be had, enhanced and strengthened. This thesis looks for an approach to this ‘phenomenological’ architecture through the genius loci. I believe that indigenous architectural principles can be used to inform a new program while quietly enhancing the existing context.

A winery and lodge on the North Fork:The eastern end of Long Island has developed over the last 50 years into an important wine-growing region. The first of these wineries often took over old potato barns, over the years being renovated to provide more amenities for increasing tourism. Starting on a forested site, this design posits the planting of a vineyard as well as a comprehensive site strategy based on local farm typolo-gies. The project seeks to provide the visitor with an authentic understanding of the genius loci, both as an architectural landscape that solidifies a strong sense of place and by providing contemplative spaces that evoke the intangible, emotional dimensions of our built environment within each visitor.

Alison Carroll


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locationL-05

Fortified Infrastructure

Exploring Urban Agriculture Through Underutilized Transit Surfaces

Addressing Sustainable Food Infrastructure for the Future:In an increasingly urbanized world, concern has grown over how to sustain dense population growth in cities. One focus will be maintaining and upgrading essential infrastructure, including localized food systems. Architecture can play a valuable role in the implementation of these systems in growing cities by con-necting what are otherwise disparate, small scale urban farms or community gardens to existing infrastructural networks. An approach explored in the thesis focuses on integrating urban agriculture strategies into existing city infrastruc-ture (such as transportation) in way that is symbiotic.

Exploring the Integration of Urban Farms with Transit Infrastructure:Proposed agricultural production systems strategically placed along an exist-ing transportation network (in this case in Chicago, IL) have the potential to increase food access for citizens and encourage healthy eating habits, while at the same time increasing public transportation use and reducing the environ-mental impact of fossil fuels. Focusing specifically on designing one new urban farm prototype that directly inserts itself into existing transportation infrastruc-ture, this thesis will explore the ways that architecture can be used to create a mutually beneficial relationship between essential urban infrastructure sys-tems, ultimately creating a more sustainable city preparing for future growth.

Michelle Carroll

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Cultivating Space

A productive urban landscape to discourage sprawl and promote density at the core

How can architecture designed to promote density and physical health be simultaneously present and absent to preserve urban green landscapes?

This work investigates sprawl and the need for continuous productive urban landscapes in Lafayette, Louisiana. This region of the state has an extensive history of agriculture, yet the city’s current development trends are that growth continues to spread into unincorporated areas, toward rural towns and onto undeveloped farmland. Fragmented development patterns and segregated land use impact the viability of the agricultural land in the unincorporated parish, and as a result, threaten the food security of the inner city.

The city has recently purchased an undeveloped, 100-acre plot of land that is centrally located with a quarter mile presence on a major commercial corridor. I propose a permanent farmers market, as well as acres for growing food to pro-mote physical health and community involvement. This increased connection between consumers and food will strengthen community ties, and by providing a place for literal and metaphorical growth in the middle of Lafayette, I intend to foster an idea of density while discouraging sprawl.

Rachel Conques


locationL-14

Branded Terroir

Drawing from SiteVineyard St. Tammany Parish

Chris Cox

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TULANE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

LOCATIONL14

BRANDED TERROIR

DRAWING FROM SITEVINEYARD ST.TAMMANY PARISH

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Chris Cox

Concept of Terroir:“The concept of terroir is at the base of the French wine Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) system that has been the model for appellation and wine laws across the globe. At its core is the assumption that the land from which the grapes are grown imparts a unique quality that is speci�c to that growing site. The amount of in�uence and the scope that falls under the description of terroir has been a controversial topic in the wine industry.”

Vineyard Design:In essence terroir is a set of de�ning characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place, interacting with the plant’s genetics, express in agricultural products such as wine, co�ee, chocolate, tomatoes, heritage wheat, cannabis, and tea. This same expresson and sense of place is where great Architecture stems from. The attempt in the Vineyard Design is to link Architec-ture to its land in the same way that the Vine is inextricably linked to the terroir. Can the methods and tactics used to produce wine be applied as architectural inspiration and design.

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LOCATIONL14

BRANDED TERROIR

DRAWING FROM SITEVINEYARD ST.TAMMANY PARISH

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Chris Cox

Concept of Terroir:“The concept of terroir is at the base of the French wine Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) system that has been the model for appellation and wine laws across the globe. At its core is the assumption that the land from which the grapes are grown imparts a unique quality that is speci�c to that growing site. The amount of in�uence and the scope that falls under the description of terroir has been a controversial topic in the wine industry.”

Vineyard Design:In essence terroir is a set of de�ning characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place, interacting with the plant’s genetics, express in agricultural products such as wine, co�ee, chocolate, tomatoes, heritage wheat, cannabis, and tea. This same expresson and sense of place is where great Architecture stems from. The attempt in the Vineyard Design is to link Architec-ture to its land in the same way that the Vine is inextricably linked to the terroir. Can the methods and tactics used to produce wine be applied as architectural inspiration and design.


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location07

Bicycle Based Design

Architectural mechanisms to reprogram the Lafitte Corridor in New Orleans

Bicycle based design is a lens to consider Architecture:This thesis explores the current paradigm shift in transit modes, and ways in which architecture can operate comparable to the bicycle. Technology that is transparent to its user, and a strong connection to the environment through layers of transparency and manually operated, sustainable systems supports this concept. Recognizing the increase in bicycle modal shares across the country, this thesis posits New Orleans as an emerging cycle city. As rates of cycling increase, architecture and design must respond in a way to support and promote expanding infrastructural networks.

A network connecting outdoor spaces throughout New Orleans:A bicycle accessible trailhead building at the end of the proposed Lafitte Green-way is the vehicle in which the thesis is explored. A new welcome center, hostel and bike share program allow visitors to experience the city in a richer way via bicycle. Revitalizing this latent post-industrial landscape into a linear greenway serves as a model for converting former transportation networks into green corridors for both cyclists and pedestrians.

John Coyle


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location17

Reclamation + Reconciliation

Transforming fragments of I-10 into assets for the community

Issues of Blight and the I-10 Corridor:Blight is widespread in New Orleans and is ever more prominent in neighbor-hoods directly adjacent to the I-10 corridor. The interstate rips through these neighborhoods without concern for the existing block structure or building use, and it soars past residential and small commercial corridors, disrupting the areas with noise and debris. It is proposed to either entirely demolish a portion of the freeway, or to remove many of the on- and off-ramps in residential areas. However, a third option exists wherein fragments of the structure remain in tact, thus preserving the benefits of shaded outdoor space and access to the views provided from the tall structure.

Seventh Ward Community Center:In neighborhoods struggling economically, creating a strong sense of commu-nity has often proved to be a major factor in stimulating growth and redevel-opment. By integrating fragments of the interstate into a community facility through the utilization of the shaded space below and vantages provided above the structure, the alienating object which once destroyed the fabric of the neighborhood can be reclaimed by the community and transformed into a posi-tive force in the recovery process. A site in the Seventh Ward presents itself as an ideal location to test this thesis.

Libby Creim

Proposed

1954 2014


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Woven Ruins

Reclaiming Vacated Naval Barracks with Integrated Na ve Ecology

Cultural Iden ty and Na ve Environments:The result of building directly over na� ve ecologies contributes to the erasure of a sense of that place, and ul� mately the iden� ty of urban dwellers. Within urban contexts, a separa� on between built and natural environments disables a dialogue. Through a mul� -layered approach to design, this thesis looks to reconnect the city as an open network of community spaces, engaging new rela� onships with lost na� ve ecologies.

Reclaiming an Urban Ruin:An abandoned urban ruin adjacent to the Bywater neighborhood contains 1.5 million square-feet exis� ng complex is a subtrac� ve one. By carving away large areas of exis� ng structure, this project seeks to reclaim and also seeks to weave new public access to the site and river beyond is achieved, and na� ve plant species ac� vely restore contaminated land on site. The city of New Orleans is also in the process of construc� ng the Crescent Park that will eff ec� vely become woven through newly subtracted areas of this site, establishing a necessary connec� on between architecture and park atmosphere.

Ray Cro


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Sensing Information

Wanhao (Jessie) Cui

Redefining architectural experience and information gathering through the integration of multiple senses

Critique of Ocular-centric Design:In this thesis, I began with the critiques of the ocular-centric design and the dominance of vision that flattens our urban experiences and causes detach-ment and alienation in the digital age, as well as the critique of the ocular-cen-tric ideologies, meta-narratives and positivist ideologies that were guiding the design of cultural spaces in the 19th to the 20th century. The resulting architec-ture is efficient and mechanical, so is the learning and exploring experiences within it.

Rethink the Typology of Museum with Integration of Other Senses:As a typology that is affected heavily by the Internet information system and is no longer considered as one of the main learning and exploring resources, the museum is chosen as the typology to study how the integration of smell, sound, touch, etc, as well as the decline of the impact of focused vision and perspec-tive system in the design of the spaces. With the application of newly devel-oped multi-sensory technologies in the architecture design, a new system and type of museum is designed to provide the visitors with a more integrated and personalized way to explore and learn the information contained in the building.

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location19

Unlocking the Urban Interior

An urban strategy for improving safety and public health in blighted communities, Central City, New Orleans

Description of the thesis issues or questions:In locations with many abandoned properties it is necessary to consider how future infill will occur to maximize lasting benefit to existing neighborhoods. This thesis explores issues of urban density and redevelopment as they relate to issues of crime and community health. The thesis proposes that architects can activate both city block edges and city block interiors in blighted and vacant inner-city neighborhoods to create a sequence of public “safe zones” that im-prove safety for pedestrians, promote walkability and catalyze further neigh-borhood redevelopment.

Description of the thesis project and site:Central City presents high health risks and crime rates, concentrated poverty and excessive blight following a depopulation trend that began in the 1960s. This proposal reconfigures city blocks in Central City by reclaiming block interi-ors as public space, subsidizing the addition of camelbacks to existing shotgun homes to create an urban edge around public block interiors, and converting blighted and vacant NORA-owned properties into commercial and civic enti-ties within the block. Activated city blocks are then linked to form a network of “safe zones” along well-lit and highly patrolled streets within the urban fabric.

Sarah Cumming

SIMON BOLIVAR

JACKSON AVENUE

URBAN EDGE

URBAN BUFFER

URBAN INTERIOR

RENTAL UNITS

DAYCARE CENTER

PUBLIC COURTYARD

MARKET

EXISTING CHURCH

IDEAL BLOCK SCENARIO

Basketball CourtShadingGardening

BLOCK ENTRYBLOCK ENTRY

BLOCK ENTRY

EXISTING RESIDENTIAL

SIMON BOLIVAR AVENUEJO

SEPHINE STREET

Safe Block Network

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locationL-09

Legitmate Architecture

“Between the Legal and the Illegal lies the Legitimate” - Pedro Lasch

Questions for/from a legitimate process:+ Can architecture subvert power?+ What does community mean when not speaking of place?+ What is an architectural tool?+ Can architecture respond to and enable differing group subjectivities?+ Can overt architecture be covert and vice-versa?+ Is this architecture?

Focus on the margins:This thesis focuses on three communities in New Orleans as stakeholders in a new practice of Legitimate Architecture in the Central Business District: Vietnamese Residents, Hispanic migrant workers, and street vendors for second lines, Mardi-Gras parades and other cultural events. These three communities provide a sliding scale of geographic closeness, from the very tight knit and geographically close Vietnamese community, to the dispersed community of second line vendors, who are each tied to various neighborhood parade routes. Though these three groups vary in the amount of physical community close-ness, all three consistently face lawmaking and government action on their communities without their involvement.

Natan Diacon-Furtado



page 24page 24


locationL-12

A City of Vacancy

Using a Field System to Transform a Deteriorating Urban Order

Creating cohesion in a failing order:Due to a decline in population and the devastation of Hurrican Katrina, New Orleans has become plagued by blight. A field system will introduce a new order to the deteriorating urban fabric while also making vacant properties productive to neighborhoods. The grid system will become apparent through the use of orchards, wetlands for water sequestration, and a community pavilion. Together these elements will create the cohesion that neighborhoods in New Orleans are currently lacking.

Implementing a new system and changing land use:Using the Faubourg Delassize neighborhood to demonstrate the field system, vacant parcels have been identified to hold either a community orchard or wetland site. The system can be seen as a kit of parts that is dispersed throughout the neighborhood. The orchards act as satellite sites while the pavilion site, located at Seventh St. and Saratoga St., is an architectural manifestation of the field system. Together, these components create a whole that is greater than the sum of it’s parts.

Maggie Easley


page 25page 25


location37

River-City Reconnection

Mediating public paths and private domains in order to reclaim the Mississippi River

Connecting street culture to the river:In order to expose and enhance the relationship between the urban fabric of New Orleans and the edge of the Mississippi river the distinction between built form and the connection to water must be investigated on an architectural scale, which in turn will reveal the power and value of the river to the city.

Student housing, riverside lofts and a new public domain:As a means of exploring the public path from the city to the river and its relationship to the private domains along the river the proposal will focus on a single intervention in the Bywater district. In this case the expansion of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a school which is situated on the banks of the Mississippi. The expansion will consist of transformative private co-housing for students and faculty as well as public lofts for artists-in-residence and local families involved in the arts. Both components are built on the land closest to the river and will guide a public path through the site connecting city and river. This path will provide performance venues, café and market space, and public display for the arts.

Gage Edwards


page 26page 26


location25

Urban Seam

Encouraging the use of public transportation through street edge activationNew Orleans, Louisiana

Neighborhood Deterioration:The erosion of the urban fabric due economic decline has in many cities left the public disengaged with its immediate urban surroundings, leading to deterioration and neglect of important neighborhood spaces. In New Orleans, the lack of organizational strategies along streets and intersections presents the opportunity to investigate solutions that address transportation infrastructure and street furniture alike, in order to introduce a cohesive system that fosters community vitality.

Creating Cohesion:The introduction of a cohesive edge condition along St. Claude will link the disparate elements of the street and create added shelter, seating, and safety to the corridor, ultimately leading to the revitalization of an eroding neighborhood and an increased connection to existing citywide networks. St. Claude is used as a testing ground for a new typology of bus stop that incorporates program and adds amenity that does not presently exist, as well as consolidates urban furniture into one cohesive element. The prototypical section can be deployed on small properties and spaces in between buildings, creating density in the urban fabric.

Michelle Finan


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location31

Still Space: Agnes Martin Pavilion, Houston, TX

Feeling Love from Architecture

Miko Futagoishi


An invisible architecture: “If you raise a lot of money, I will give you great, great architecture. But if you raise a really a lot of money, I will make the architecture disappear.” - Yoshio Taniguchi

How does architecture disappear? Architecture disappears when an ob-ject within the space is elegantly framed by the building elements. Invisible architecture comes from an memorable experience with a multi dimensional orchestrated value. A designer’s thoughtful approach synthesizes architecture with natural elements, such as light, heat, water, wind, and building materials, and allows architecture to celebrate the behavior of human beings through quietude: still space.

The expansion of the Menil Collection campus:The Menil Collection opened in 1987 to house John and Dominique de Me-nil’s art collection in gallery of diffused natural illumination. The vision of the museum’s design to be a place of meditation, silence, and contemplation. Cy Twombly Pavilion, Rothko Chapel, Byzantine Fresco Chapel and Richmond Hall are also part of the Menil Collection campus, which coexist with historic bunga-low houses and large oak trees. The new Agnes Martin Pavilion enhances the vision and atmosphere of the campus ultimate experiences. The silent beauty within the Martin’s paintings are reflected in the new museum.


page 28

loca35

Market Metabolism

Trenton Gauthier

Prototypical redevelopment of the Stephens Garage:

Since vitruvius, western architecture has opposed impermanence:


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Manufacturing Consump on

Exploring the Commodi ca on of Produc on Through Industrial Incuba on, Worcester, MA

Emily Green


Producer/Consumer Schism:The current autonomy of factories has le� consumers unaware of how products are made. This is reinforced by a decentralized produc� on process where labor is invisible and products are consumed in spaces focused on the spectacle of architecture. Although it emphasizes effi ciency, outsourcing labor is the ul� mate separa� on of producer and consumer. This illustrates the idea that, in a Post-Fordist economy, spaces are commodi ed by giving priority to the aesthe� c of a building over its use. Therefore, how can commodi ed space be used to bring manufacturing back to the public realm?

Architecture of Consump on Brings Manufacturing Into the Public Realm:This project looks to the historic mill presence in New England as a means of encouraging the return of the tex� le industry through a coopera� ve label. The design explores methods of implemen� ng tex� le produc� on as a cultural industry in Worcester, MA. The reduc� on in autonomy of the factory created through transparency of processes in a space that is shared by produc� on and consump� on allows for goods and understanding to be created simultaneously. Through applica� on of a Post-Fordist spectacle of produc� on the interven� on can established a rela� onship between producer and consumer.

34'44'

28'

96'

28'

44'

34'

20'

34'

15' 20'15'

15'

96'

Raw Materials Deliver+Store Section Beams StorageCreel Transfers Fibers

from cones to section beamsSlasher separates and Transfers

Fiber from section to Looom Beams LOOM weaves Fabric Inspectors check for imperfections Fabric Trimmed+Finished Finished Goods Packed Finished Goods Distributed


page 30�� 30

��

��06

Contrasti ve Structures

The Miami Marine Stadium Complex: the jux-tapositi on between new and old urban forms

The contrast and dialogue between new and old structures: Instead of sever-ing the memories att ached to the stadium, there is a new potenti al to create an architectural dialogue between the revived stadium and a new innovati ve struc-ture. The juxtapositi on between the old and new will supply an original identi ty to the island and to the broader context in which it is connected. The rejuvena-ti on of this modern 20th century stadium has the potenti al to reconnect itself back into the citi es urban fabric. In the prevailing predicament of revitalizati on versus demoliti on, the revival of the Miami Marine Stadium is imperati ve due to its historical value to both nati ve residents and visitors.

Creati ng new structures to reanimate neglected sites in a dynamic urban set-ti ng: Through revitalizati on, derelict sites and structures can be preserved as a historical backdrop and/or component to new innovati ve structures. The site off ers panoramic views of downtown Miami, unique natural landscaping, and an inti mate experience with the ocean that Miami is known for. For a while, the young and modern city of Miami supported a large numer of private tourist att racti ons, including the Miami Marine Stadium. Now, with a energeti c real estate market, the city is making an eff ort to rejuvenate itself culturally for the local and global visitors.

Elisha Grossman



page 31page 31


location 26

Re-Surfacing Public Space

Bridging Urban Boundaries in Downtown New Orleans, Louisiana

Reconfiguring Waterfront Public Space:New Orleans’s existence is dependent upon the Mississippi River, however residents and visitors of the city have limited interaction with it. Levee and flood wall infrastructure, industrial facilities, freight rail and public transit lines border the river, creating a challenging urban boundary that separates the public. By remodeling public transit and improving accessibility to existing waterfront attractions through the design of a new ferry terminal, New Orleans can more successfully overcome waterfront thresholds and feature meaningful public space in its urban core. This thesis seeks to introduce methods of infrastructural layering to erase urban edge conditions and provide unification to the city fabric.

Canal Street Ferry Terminal Proposal:By providing a much needed mixed use waterfront and landmark in downtown New Orleans, this proposal will offer a variety of recreational, cultural and transportation amenities along the Mississippi River for tourists and residents alike. In addition to a reconfigured ferry terminal, visitors can engage with the waterfront and move freely between the aquarium and Spanish Plaza, therefore activating two important riverfront public spaces previously isolated.

Annelise Haskell



page 32page 32


locationL-02

Fractured Cities: Stitching Communities Together Through Residual Space

A Multicultural Arts Center and Skate Network in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pushed to the fringe:Physical, legal, and social controllers currently push artistic and performance based subcultures from the public eye. The separation of these subcultures from society has created a negative connotation of their activities in the eyes of the general public – establishing them as rebels. New Orleans’ drainage canals can be reinterpreted as a vehicle to connect urban fabrics and enable more cohesion between stigmatized subcultures and the general public. The resulting designed interventions allow for a new understanding of these subcultures while simultaneously invigorating the surrounding corridor.

Scarred urban tissue as a mode of connection:By viewing New Orleans’ drainage canals as an amenity rather than solely a floodable drainage system, they can act as a catalyst to reconnect communtities divided by this infrastructure. With the canal as a stimulus for a new way of looking at skateparks, the city can be reimagined to incorporate a system of interventions that decentralize the mass of a single skatepark. Through a network of small scale spots incorporating hybrid design, the system allows for a widespread insertion of skateboarding while continuing the historical practice of spontaneous mobility by street skateboarders on found space.

Drew Hauck


page 33page 33


location29

More Than Dwelling

Mediating privacy, porch culture, and communal living in New Orleans.

Population Loss and Porch Culture:In many of New Orleans’ neighborhoods, the familiar array of shotgun houses indigenous to the area has been penetrated by vacancies, greenfields, and blight. As a result, the prevalence of the porch, which acts as a semi-private buffer that surrounds the perimeter of much of the city’s blocks, has deteriorat-ed. This layer helps to produce a variety of transitions from public to private so inhabitants can adjust their relationship to the larger social environment. Trans-lating cohousing, a type of social housing that originated in Denmark, to these neighborhoods can reinvigorate fragmented porch culture to foster stronger communities, encourage a cohesive identity for its inhabitants, and introduce critical density to spur redevelopment in a struggling neighborhood.

Translating a European Mode of Dwelling:Cohousing in Europe occurs in cultural contexts of greater homogeneity than in New Orleans. The heterogeneous nature of New Orleans posits that the success of introducing cohousing to the city requires a culturally homogeneous user group; Teach For America. Located in Hoffman Triangle, the scheme aims to facilitate engagement between resident teachers and connect with the sur-rounding community by rethinking the porch threshold through layers of public, private, and semi-private space.

Ellen Hearle

Diminishing Populations = Loss of Porch Buffer

25 - 35% Decrease

35 - 50% Decrease

50 - 100% Decrease

15 - 25% Decrease

00 - 15% Decrease

10 - 30% Increase

00 - 10% Increase

CHANGE IN POPULATION

Cohousing Types


page 34page 34


location24

Leveraging A Mass

A Community Health Center focused on innovative, proactive and supportive patient engagement

Changes in the space of healthcareCommunity scaled healthcare is fundamentally changing. Physicians are shifting from reactive solutions to proactive strategies in order to combat America’s largest public health issue, chronic illness. As a result, preventative medicine promotes lifestyle modifications and an innovative new service, group medical appointments. This team-based approach employs the knowledge of the practitioner amongst multiple patients as an effort to increase accessibility and capitalizes on the collective wisdom of the group. However, health centers are adopting group visits without appropriate spaces to practice. In order to elevate the proactive program, health centers need to create a fluid transitioning space that fosters scalable and clear neighborhood engagement.

Leveraging an exsisting urban artifactNew Orleans lack of adequate healthcare infrastructure is plaguing its population with poor health statistics, devastating neighborhoods like Central City. In order to secure a community presence, the health center leverages an existing piece of valued infrastructure within the community, a church. This urban artifact, Saint Francis de Sales, provides a ceremonious open space to adapt as the platform for group visits, establishing a sanctuary for people to heal.

Emma Jasinski

H E A LT H C E N T E R


page 35


page 35


locationL-17

BOTTOM TOP

An exploration of participatory place making and mapping, engaging neutral grounds in New Orleans

Description of the thesis issues or questions:This thesis seeks to link the informal and formal production of public space by demonstrating an architecture that curates participatory mapping and testing of spatial concepts in the city. In New Orleans, undervalued sites are identified, investigated and invigorated through non-planned appropriations. However, such urban incubations lack sustainability without the momentum created through the support of formal frameworks. Bottom Top works to link bottom up actions and top down urban strategy through a user informed architecture that is specific enough to administer systematically and indeterminate enough to be appropriated.

Description of the thesis project and site:The program and design strategy for a Neutral Shop + Market is informed by a rooted, bottom up urbanism that propels the momentum of placemaking. The program is broken down into permenant and imperminant components--where the perminant building is a small business space to be shared and easily adapted between local business tenants. Imperminant concept units act as physical mani-festations of spatial meandering on site. Units intend to crowdsource place-map-ping and making through deployment and use. The landscape of both neutral ground and market plaza are treated similarily--where both are elvated from street grade, suggesting landscape as “stage” for the performance of users.

Bahareh Rana Javadi

Deployed: Sunday 1/261pm

visited: Monday 1/272pm

visited: Thursday 1/30 4pm

Deployed: Sunday 2/911am

visited: Sunday 2/911:20am

visited: Sunday 2/17

Prototype Considerations:

If it is too mobile-->dissappear

If it is not mobile enough-->noone will use it

-Weathering (projected life span)

-Potential to aggrigate

-Visibility

-Speed of fabrication

-Try deploying at various test points on site

-Potential to plug into larger structure or existing infrastructure












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P1Deployed: Sunday 1/261pm











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P1

page 36


location01

Reconciling Residual Space

A Tactical Approach to the Central Critique of Public Housing

Description of the thesis issues or questions:The dense public housing of New York accommodates thousands of low-income residents but provides very little shared spaces for these families and com-munities. The only existing public spaces in these housing complexes are the shared grounds between them, which are, at best, a wasted space and, at worst, a safety hazard. What was once a programmed area, intended to be a park unifying the houses, failed in the absence of manageable spatial concepts and ordered relationships to the housing. This thesis proposes a series of layered interventions on existing residual space- promoting spatial cohesion, ownership, and manageable shared outdoor space.

Description of the thesis project and site:This thesis addresses the issue of residual space in New York City public hous-ing. The specific housing projects being addressed are the Wagner Houses found in East Harlem. Although populated with mature trees and 13 buildings, over 80 percent is residual space, thus allowing for great opportunity for redesign. Therefore, design will primarily address the existing site conditions with a more tactical approach, while addressing the street edge in a more strategic manner, implementing new program and form. Together, these approaches will help reconcile the issue at hand and transform the residual space into a unifying ele-ment.

Kristen Korndoerfer


page 36

page 37


location21

On the Horizon

Creating a contextual refuge on the shifting Louisiana coast

How can communities facing inevitable relocation remain intact?:As the Louisiana coast subsides and is flooded by rising sea levels, the area is becoming more vulnerable to intense floods and storms. While there is a levee surrounding the New Orleans metropolitan area, the communities outside of the levee’s protection are exposed to the elements, making it too expensive and dangerous to stay. St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes are the areas that will lose the most land and where the land is vital to the local and national economy. An environmentally and contextually sensitive infrastructure will initiate the relocation of these populations, allowing them to remain in their communities while preserving their lifestyle and quality of life.

A central hub to attract outliers just within the levee walls:The town center is near the most southwestern part of the levee along Louisi-ana 46. The center will provide support for the intended increase in population as the area fills in with relocating residents. The center will increase the disaster resilience by providing spaces that can educate the public about climate change, facilitating movement to outside the levee with a boat and automobile transit hub, provide economic support through agriculture and fishing, and help the elderly population stay connected. The community will be able to keep its sense of place with a constant connection to the land they have come from.

Elizabeth Kovacevic

collage of existing site elements


page 37

page 38

VIEW FROM SITE INTO PARK

PAGE 38


LOCATION15

Adaptable Infrastructure

Repurposing New Orleans’s IndustrialRemnants

The Opportuniti es of Infrastructural Decline:nfrastructure across the globe is both expanding and deteriorati ng. With litt le forthcoming investment in declining areas, infrastructure and associated indus-tries are becoming a great strain upon citi es. he large-scale existence of out-dated and abandoned infrastructures contain the opportunity for new ways of thinking about revitalizati on. ighly reliant upon infrastructure networks, many industrial remnants have been left behind. ft en requiring unavailable funds for revitalizati on, these remnants are an opportunity for a new strategy of rehabilita-ti on that capitalizes upon their central locati ons and inherent material values.

Repurposing a Remnant:ocated near the entrance to the ndustrial anal, the abandoned Poland venue wharf and warehouse have the potenti al for the large scale architectural interven-ti on that the thesis envisions. t is situated at the end of the new rescent Park which connects the site to the rench Quarter. he site will also soon be connected to a new streetcar line running down Poland venue and terminati ng adjacent to the wharf. t is intended to create a “loop” between the rench Quarter and the site where pedes-trians can walk across the park and return via the streetcar through the surrounding neighborhood. erving as the culminati on to the park, the site has the potenti al to capture that acti vity and mediate its interacti on with the city’s urban fabric.

Beau LaCroix

AUTOMOBILE

RAILROAD

RIVER / CANAL

GREENSPACE

STREETCAR

SITE

WAREHOUSE INTERIORVACANT INDUSTRIAL SITES

IMMEDIATE SITE


page 39page 39


location28

Architectural Perception in a Digital Age

New Orleans Film Institute: using physical and digital modes of visual exploration to define perception in a technological era

How do digital recording devices alter our perception of architecture?Modern recording apparatuses mediate the physical connection between the architectural environment and those who experience it. Digital cameras, phones, tablets, and other devices have become technological extensions of the human form. Therefore, the built environment is no longer viewed expe-rientially through the human body alone, but captured in digitized moments, changing the perception of architecture from optical, sensory progressions to photographic or cinematic portrayals of space. Through consideration of sensory, optical, and digital perception of architecture, this proposal will fuse spatial experiences of both human and photographic means to embrace an architectural paradigm for an electronic era where digitization isn’t a substitute but a supplement for apprehending spatial reality.

Film and perception in downtown New Orleans:A successful film captures the viewer and pulls him or her into the creative world, altering perception in order to captivate the audience. The New Orleans Film Institute will emphasize photographic and cinematic perception through theaters, galleries, and an education center. Located in an infill site in the Central Business District near Canal Street, visitors from the French Quarter will have maximum viewing, and perceiving, potential.

Katlyn Leach

iPhone Viewing Limitations

Human Eye Potential Views


page 40page 40

tulane school of architecturetulane school of architecture

location12

RE-USE

A study of appropriating + contextualizing industrial fragments

How can found objects be repurposed to make architecture?Much of today’s waste has inherent properties that are similar to architectural elements. This thesis explores ways that found objects can be repurposed to create an architecture of collage. Just as prefabricated columns and walls are integral to some structures, the combination of certain abandoned materials can create a building. In this way, these reused elements can be thought of as elements of prefabrication. By introducing local materials & architectural ele-ments with historic significance, this seemingly placeless architecture becomes relevant to its site.

The creation of a maritime museum and community center:New Orleans’ hot and humid climate combined with the strong architectural history provides extreme conditions to test this thesis. Composed as a collec-tion of industrial discards, this maritime museum & community center creates a type of hybrid machine, which ultimately provides services for the entire Bywater area. The structural system is largely made of shipping containers; oil drums create a ground surface; pallets shade the glazing system; and chain link fencing is adapted to become railings.

Melissa Longano



page 41page 41


locationL-16

Market Resistance:

Sustaining socially mixed communities on the City Fringe

Can Post-War social housing be reintegrated into the city?In London, many of the Modernist and Brutalist social housing estates built to usher in a brighter, more egalitarian future after World War II are now tainted by a history of social issues, including the 2011 riots. London boroughs have adopted a policy of regeneration: demolishing social housing in favor of mixed-tenure housing that displaces original residents and decreases the amount of subsidized housing. With thousands of people waitlisted for social housing, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets is one of the poorest parts of the country, yet its neighborhoods sit precariously balanced between the financial strong-holds in the City of London and Canary Wharf. The market-driven expansion of these districts combined with “regeneration” policy poses a profound threat to the existing residential fabric of Tower Hamlets.Densification and Diversification of Existing Social Housing:Through the lens of Tower Hamlet’s Chicksand Estate, this thesis explores how the densification of social housing estates with the addition of mixed-tenure housing, civic and commercial elements can socially and economically benefit an existing neighborhood. Through the tactical response to isolating architec-tural elements typical of the majority of post-war social housing estates, this proposal aims to present a method for integrating estates into the urban fabric, while strengthening the existing community.

Kate Luxner

Wrapping the Slab-Block

Urbanizing the Super-Block

Grounding the Tower



Grounding the Tower



Grounding the Tower


page 42page 42


location33

New Orleans Athletic Club

Implementing tactics of queerscape architec-tures as generators of social incubation.

Struggle for social and spatial dominance:Queer space- or altered structures of “otherness” that mirror and subvert spa-tial and social norms- exist in direct opposition to the heteronormative struc-tures that comprise the geographical and cultural landscapes of the contempo-rary world. The reallocation of formerly heteronormative space for purposes of advancement of the queer community has been the primary agent through which gender non-conformists have been able to achieve political and social gains. In a time when gender issues are becoming more visibly polarizing, the need for new forms of queer space are required to participate in the national dialogue to promote allied communality.

Establishing alternate experiences in a liberationist structure:The chosen site of Loyola Avenue and Perdido Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans is directly next to City Hall- the paradigmatic structure of heteronormative dominance. By mirroring the axis that connects City Hall to Mahalia Jackson Theater into the site, it integrates the New Orleans Athletic Club into the political-civic structure as a point of rupture. The internal experi-ence is then altered through queerscape tactics, embedding the architecture within histories, theories, and experiences of the queer community.

Gregory Mathieu


page 43


page 43


location08

Architecture of Velocity

A new urban park under I-610 New Orleans.

Urban exploration through skateboarding:Architecture has traditionally viewed buildings a set of fixed objects. The experience of the skateboarder contradicts this, viewing architecture as a flow of actively engaging spatial experience. This outsider perspective provides an architectural critique of the urban condition; unconcerned with by traditional standards of architecture, instead preoccupied with the creation of fluid movement through space, following changes of surface and texture, reinterpreting and repurposing the urban fabric through this process.

A new urban park in Gentilly, New Orleans:The site for this thesis exists as a residual space of existing I-610 and an adjacent railroad line. By providing a much needed hub for skateboarding and other recreational and cultural activity in New Orleans, this proposal would offer a variety of amenities and attractions for neighborhood, citywide, and regional visitors.

Daniel McDonald

page 44page 44


locationL-04

Synaptic Infrastructure

Ameliorating the Effects of Infrastructural Techno-Commodities Through Anticipatory Development

The techno-commodity landscape:Embedded between the layers of steel and concrete of our world’s great dams lies the proclamation of our species’ unparalleled power over our environ-ment–an immovable ideology of manifest control. Behind their gently curved facades, pools of our most precious resource assure us of a perpetual trickle of growth, abundance and prosperity. The proliferation of large dams over the past fifty years underscores a world wide growth paradigm contingent on outsourced resources and near sighted economics. As it so often happens, the very innovations that spurred us into the present are now the obstacles that threaten to keep us from our future.

Anticipating a sustainable future still “in development”:As we begin to grapple with the accumulated external costs of clogging the worlds rivers, the proposed HidroAysen mega-dam project in southern Chile raises significant questions on the role of technology in the development of our built environment. Synaptic Infrastructure adresses the inevitable obselecence of large scale hydroelectric power and seeks to ameliorate its impact on existing social and environmental systems in Patagonia through the coestablsihment of sustainable forrestry practices, climate and energy research, and eco-tourism.

Evan Morris




page 45page 45


location18

Urban Armature: A Generative Infrastructure

Combating Desertification with the built environment - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Implications of global desertification:The majority of the world’s population is experiencing a steady increase, estimated to be 9.3 billion by 2050, This global population will be confronting issues of energy security, food shortage and water scarcity and wide spread cli-mate change. The degradation of land around the world will uproot populations and force them to leave everything they know; moving their families and what belongings they have left to start anew in a foreign land. This mass migration will cause strain of already fragile resources and could potentially spur civil unrest if measures are not taken to help integrate and provide for these climate refugees.

Generative urban armature for Dubai:Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is becoming a prime destinations for migrants looking for opportunities and will become even more attractive as the number of climate refugees increase and cannot sustain life in their country of origin. This investigation proposes a multifunctional infrastructure armature lo-cated in the under utilized urban corridors of Dubai. The implementation of this ecological urban armature into the rapidly developing middle eastern city will help combat desertification, alleviate pressure of desalination on the natural environment, and accommodate migrant populations.

Robert Mosby


page 46page 46


locationL-11

A STROLL THROUGH THE NIGHT MARKET

Exploring the Potential of the Taiwanese Night Market as an Entrepreneurial Incubator for the Informal Street Vendor

Competition for Public Space:The informal street economy plays an integral part of the economic makeup of every city. While informal street vending fall outside the legal framework of city zoning laws, participants view street vending as a means of sustenance. Furthermore, because street vendors are dependent on pedestrian traffic, they usually congregate along crowded streets increasing congestion and concern for public safety. Although eviction has traditionally been the policy, governments have started to realize that this is not a viable solution. As street vendors begin to self organize, many governments are shifting from a policy of eviction to collaboration.

Street Market as a Transitional Phase for Entrepreneurship:Using the city of Taipei, a city with a rich street market culture, as a case study, this thesis proposes to explore the potential of the Night Market as a space to incubate businesses. Programmatically, this Night Market would provide stor-age, production and meeting spaces, and vending space designed to maximize interpersonal relationships to support vendors so that they become less de-pendent on the street. While the Night Market is intended to be a permanent piece of infrastructure, street vendors would temporarily occupy this space.

Kathy Mu


page 47page 47


location38

Ornament and Time

Reevaluating Interface Through Responsive Architecture in New Orleans Central Business District

The role of ornament and the effects of absence:What is the role of ornament in contemporary design? How does the presence or absence of ornament affect the relationship between buildings and their us-ers? The past century has been host to some of the most stark innovations and transitions in architectural history. The effects of Modernism and the reaction-ary movements that followed have dramatically altered the built environment of virtually every industrialized city. One of the original pillars of Modernism was its seemingly reductivist approach to ornament and decoration. The effects of abandoning one of architecture’s most universal features are still being real-ized and felt today.

A responsive interface:This investigation asserts that active interaction, using digitally fabricated components, can foster a new and fundamentally contemporary relationship between buildings and their occupants. Utilizing dynamic building systems that respond to both environmental stimuli and also data driven by occupants, the project strives to re-investigate how we define ornament, and how it tran-scends mere decoration. The proposal stems from the renovation of a vacant and formerly ornamented building, who was damaged extensively by a mid-century modernist renovation.

David Namaky


page 48

SITE

WES

TERN

WAL

L

SPATIAL POWERSPATIAL POWER

page 48


location22

The Craft of Cultural Agency ThroughMaterial Translation and Spatial Power

Empowering the Ethiopian Jews in Israel with a geographic center for culture.

Issues of Identity and Power: After 2000 years in isolation, the Ethiopian Jews were transplanted to Israel from an increasingly volatile situation. The community has struggled to adapt to contemporary Israeli society. While the Ethiopian Jews remains at the fringes of Israeli society, they are slowly moving toward the center. Power relationships are critical to agency. Applied to architecture, innovation in material technology can work to bring about change due to its positive association with power. Spatial hierarchy and power can be achieved through various techniques of siting and organization.

A Geographic Center for Ethiopian Culture in Jerusalem: This new center of Ethiopian community, religion, and history will recall the geographic and societal past of the Ethiopian Jews and engage in the present. Located on the Haas Promenade in Jerusalem, the site currently hosts the celebration of the Sigd holiday. The siting of the project on the site shares the promenade’s power relationships with the old city and the valley below. Jerusalem stone is the primary building material, acknowledging the context of the site and the community, while the structural system is a contemporary translation of an Ethiopian hut, a tukul, celebrating a strong African heritage.

William Nemitoff


page 49page 49


location14

PROJECTION ORNAMENT

Altering Architectural Perception with LightConvention Center and “Night Light” VenuePownal, Vermont

The Architecture in ‘Architectural’ Projection Mapping:The intent of this thesis is to design architecture with this projection technology from the beginning, so it can become a intentional, integrated system of ornament. The projection mapped buildings will completely immerse the audience in a mapped environment, with emphasizes on altering the viewer’s architectural perception. Mapping is an advanced lighting technique that turns any physical surface into a video display. Visual artists are projecting onto structures and building façades, using them as their canvas. ‘Architectural Projection Mapping’ is the term commonly accepted in the mapping community. However, the video content often ignores its interactions with the architecture and urban fabric.

Vermont’s First Public Convention Center:In Pownal, Vermont there is a 144 acre property with an existing racetrack and grandstand. The site is conveniently located at the Southwest entrance of Vermont, less than five miles to the border of Massachusetts and New York. Besides a few resorts and hotels that have large event spaces, the state does not have a public convention center. Generally, this program functions as an 8 to 5 building but with mapping capabilities, a day and night venue will exist.

Tayson Ng



page 50page 50


location2

Landscaping Memories:

Memorial Park and Cemetery Extension to the Chalmette National Cemetery

Description of the thesis issues or questions:The spaces associated with death and dying provoke powerful memories and stir emotions. Cemeteries have the ability to take on a civic role and provide a place for contemplation as well as memorial. Current practices are increasingly shifting towards cremation and natural burials to deal with the internment of bodies. These methods, although more economical in many aspects, are not associated with the same sense of place. This thesis investigates landscape and architecture in the role of creating a place for memories in the modern age.

Description of the thesis project and site:The site chosen for this project is part of the old Kaiser Aluminum Factory, once the largest aluminum producer in the world. Now the site is sandwiched between the “sacred”, the Mississippi river and Battlefield, and the “industrial”, the highway and New Orleans Port. Circulation through the site plays an impor-tant role in the program as one moves from the real world of the highway to the ethereal river.

Dennis Palmadessa

Linear Grid of Existing Cemetery

Sectional Perspective


page 51page 51


location23

Parasympathetic Propensities

Investigating a hyper responsive architecture

A mediated architectural experienceOur environments are increasingly comprised of intelligent systems used to measure the spaces and cities we inhabit. As technology becomes smaller and more robust, the hard matter of architectural space is beginning to be embed-ded with real time information. Additionally, as technology infiltrates our life deeper and more profoundly, we are beginning to view ourselves in new ways. Recent breakthroughs in the sciences show that the stimuli in our environ-ments are restructuring and reengineering our physiological systems on a regu-lar basis. These recent advances have led us to question the state of our built environment and its affects on our minds and bodies. Can we identify and draw out the invisible forces that make up our human bodies through a responsive architecture? Giving form significanceRespiration offers visible insights into a person’s physiological processes. The act of breathing can be measured and then analyzed for patterns to determine emotional states. By connecting a person’s breathing to architectural space, desired emotional affects can be achieved. The thesis is investigated through the development of a systematic research method, a prototypical immersive environment and a Museum for Mediated Experience.

Kyle Ryan


page 52page 52


locationL-15

Stay St. Claude

Decentralizing New Orleans tourism to address the agency and development of neighborhoods in flux

Population shifts and community agencyNew Orleans was the fastest growing city in the country in 2012. While trendy new attractions invite a new demographic of people to developing neighbor-hoods, long-term residents confronted with rising rent and expensive home maintenance are at risk of being displaced. Additionally, the city had a record-breaking tourism year, with 9 million visitors spending $6 billion. New tools like Airbnb.com make it possible for New Orleans residents to host visitors in their own space, spatially decentralizing tourism throughout the city. This thesis ex-plores the potentials of utilizing the short term, temporary condition of tourists as a catalyst for resident controlled, long-term neighborhood development.

Creating a micro-tourism district Stay St. Claude is a micro-tourism district that allows the addition of rear yard accessory dwelling units for short term tourist rentals. In addition to creat-ing an accessory income stream for residents, there is potential for increasing long-term residential density. The architectural proposal explores questions of shared space, privacy, and the insider/outsider experience of the tourist. The units extend vertically, deracinating guests up and away from houses, contain-ing them in the underutilized space at the center of the block.

Sarah Satterlee

STAY ST. CLAUDE!

$109

PER NIGHT

PER NIGHT

FREE WIFI!

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL!

$65$75 PER NIGHT

BIKE TO BOURBON!


page 53page 53


location03

Community Encounter

A courtyard housing prototype of urban growth in Central City, New Orleans

What kind of housing typology would contribute to the revitalization of Cen-tral City, New Orleans? Many New Orleans neigborhoods are plagued with blighted and vacant prop-erty. Natural disasters and lack of proximity to basic serives have exaccerbated a situation detrimental to sustainability of community. In a location where growth is stagnant, the revitalization of this area through a high-density court-yard housing development might be propsed.

A new high-density low-rise housing development:This thesis proposes a courtyard housing developement on a vacant city block in Central City, New Orleans. The courtyard development has a communal focus and achieves total use of space. The private domain of individual dwellings is mediated by a complete pedestrian circulation system that permits a variety of cummunal spaces. The court-dwellings form a repititive framework with a pat-tern of open and closed space for maximum privacy and high density. A public courtyard at the core of the development provides a comfortable microclimate and a social space for the surrounding community.

Aaron Schenker



page 54

<1000500-1000100-500>100

page 54


location27

Back To The Yards: Providing a Permanent Framework for Impermanence

Stimulating reinvestment in blighted neighborhoods of Chicago, IL by promoting temporary development

Mediating Blight in the Post-Industrial City:As the population of post-industrial cities like Chicago begin to densify and retract toward their center, outlying residential neighborhoods are left struggling to maintain their population and economic stability. The decline of industry paired with the recent housing crisis has left neighborhoods plagued with extreme blight and foreclosure. In many of these instances vacant land outnumbers vacant buildings preventing a rapid method of recovery. As opposed to utilizing the prescriptive measures of a master plan, this project embraces vacancy as an opportunity for tactical interventions that allow for dynamic, immediate relief and a projective vision for future commercial development.

A Home for Mobile Businesses:Rising in popularity due to flexibility and relatively low start-up costs, food trucks have made their mark in several major cities across the United States. However, Chicago currently has numerous restrictions established preventing truck-based businesses from operating. This thesis envisions a replicable incubator that both shelters and legitimizes mobile businesses in order to activate a network of surrounding vacancies and drive investment into areas of untapped potential.

Kevin Schmitt

SKIN

INCUBATOR

CANOPY

POPULATION CHANGE:2000-2010

VACANT LAND EXISTING vs. PROJECTED TRUCK STOPS

Existing StopsProjected Stops

-10% or greater-5% to -9.9%-0.1% to -4.9%No Change0.1% to 25%25.1% to 100%100% or greater


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Reengaging the Urban Block

A Strategy for Introducing Community Space to New Orleans’ Residential Seventh Ward Neighborhood

A Holistic Approach to Neighborhood Revitalization:When areas are faced with vacant lots and buildings, separation from services, and a lack of quality public space, the accompanying decline in safety causes further loss of appeal. Interventions need to be made that will reenable the neighborhood unity that inhabitants struggle to maintain. This can be done by making block-wide changes that vary in scale and permanence, utilizing existing structures and empty spaces to immediately reinvigorate the streetscape. Con-sidering the block as a whole allows the connection of individual lots, through the creation of community spaces shared by both visitors and inhabitants.

New Typologies for the Seventh Ward:Formerly a prosperous Creole neighborhood, the Seventh Ward was seriously damaged due to both the I-10 Overpass construction and Hurricane Katrina. This project introduces a community center, library, and café to a typical block in the mostly residential neighborhood. The vacant lots and buildings found throughout the site are utilized to gradually introduce these new program typologies, interweaving with existing homes. Interstitial exterior space is allo-cated for a variety of activities, integrated with both new and existing buildings to create a strong connection between the site’s private and community uses.

Katherine Schuff

N. CLAIBORNE

ROBERTSONN.

N. VILLERE

URQUHART

ST. ANTH

ON

Y FREN

CH

MEN

TOU

RO

PAUG

ER

ELYSIANFIELD

S

RESIDENTIAL

PUBLIC

FORMER PUBLIC

HOUSES ADJACENT TO SITE, C. 1961 (HOME OF JELLY ROLL MORTON)

NEW COMMUNITY SPACE


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Teaching Resilience In Changing Climates

A didactic architecture encouraging environmental consciousness through everyday experience

Why buildings need to teach the right things:To achieve optimum resilience in a changing climate, every citizen needs to understand and be involved in an integrated network of resources and information. In an environment that communicates system processes as part of everyday experience, instead of masking them, a shared understanding of resource systems and their importance can form. A didactic architecture that exposes and communicates resource flows can teach new habits to building occupants for resilient resource consumption and maximize the value of a structure for a community.

Where environmental resilience meets social resilience:The explicit learning environment of schools and the social networks associated with them position a grade school design as the ideal building type for most efficiently and effectively increasing a community’s resilience. The Hollygrove neighborhood in New Orleans, bordered by two major drainage canals, has presented itself as a focal neighborhood in much of the City’s planning for infrastructural enhancements. Therefore, a site along the Greenline--a reclaimed parkspace and infrastructural link--best suits the design exploration.

Dorothy Shepard



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Reclaiming the American Dream

Transit Oriented Development in Chicago’s Railroad Suburbs

Best of Both Worlds:This thesis addresses the banality, physical & psychological isolati on, unsustain-ability, and resultant populati on loss of America’s suburbs by exploring opti ons of how to prevent suburban decay, improve quality of life, and engage the pub-lic realm by bett er uti lizing existi ng infrastructure. “Millenials” are returning to citi es, resulti ng in growing citi es and shrinking suburbs. They originally fl ocked to the citi es for job opportuniti es , but they stayed for economically viable life-styles and ameniti es that come with living in a dense metropolis. With this new trend of people moving to citi es, there is predicted to be an even greater lack of density in the suburbs.

Re-establishing the Town Center:Located 15 miles outside Chicago’s Loop along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail Line, Western Springs is a railroad suburb founded in the second half of the 19th Century. The design takes advantage of the ease of access to public transportati on / the city while maintaining suburban characteristi cs such as privacy and the yard and eliminati ng the physical and psychological isolati on of the existi ng suburban typology. The program is a mix of commercial, public, and residenti al uses that promote public transportati on and pedestrian traffi c as the main forms of circulati on.

Matt Skoda

Typical Suburban Typology

Separate Components

New Typology


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Reclaiming Place

Utilizing Vacancy to Enhance the Lower Ninth Ward’s Ecological and Urban Identity

Placelessness in the Lower NinthFor a place to be endowed with identity, it should relate to the surrounding historical, cultural, and natural processes. Many of the rebuilding efforts in the Lower Ninth Ward do not reflect the context and can be deemed “placeless”. With the lack of density, amenities, and blighted lots, the area is reverting back to its “rural” beginnings: large areas of green space with scattered development. With the increase in new ecologies and wildlife in this area, it calls for a hybrid design approach that emphasizes ecological and landscape urbanism. Restoring the notion of place must work with the reintroduction of Bayou Bienvenue to the neighborhood.

Revitalizing Vacant Lots Along Tennessee StreetDue to the large amounts of vacancy and the placeless nature of the Make it Right houses, the design of this thesis focuses along Tennessee Street and its connection (or lack of) to the bayou. By targeting specific vacant lots that show traces of past occupancies, the proposed designs act as palimpsests and attempt to incorporate the past, present, and anticipate future uses. The interventions utilize a portal frame structure that is adaptable for different types of program. The sequences of the interventions culminate at the end of the street where it meets Bayou Bienvenue in order to establish the notion of place.

Alia Soomro

Conceptual physical model depicting grid as an organizational device


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- View of the site looking West from over the Hudson River

location13

MINIhattan

A proposal for new density along Manhattan’s waterfront - and the extension of the Highline.

Living on the edge - exploring density and programmatic variety on the waterfront. This thesis seeks to explore ways in which Manhattan can fully utilize its waterfront, as it steadily reclaims it from its industrial past. It seeks to understand how varying degrees of density and a beneficial variety of program (both public and private) along the perimeter of the city can richen the urban experience. Starting with the position that Manhattan’s waterfront is under-valued, can - by inhabiting the waterfront - we challenge the old paradigm of undervalue, one that says that water is cheap. Instead, can this new epoch realize a fuller potential for the urban existence, one that enjoys the harbor as an essential element - both to the city’s sustainability + livability .

Site as catalyst for change: The thesis uses Pier 57, located off of 15th and 11th avenue, as a flagship to scrutinize a deeper potential of density and variety of program. This entails responsible density along the waterfront - both elevated, as a continuation of the Highline, and interwoven, as residential, commercial, and public elements. Finally the project offers an aquarium as the apotheosis to the project, which focuses on the mutual exchange between Manhattanites and their harbor.

Lucas Velle


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Experimenting with Tradition

Testing Ground: St. Joe Brickworks Fabrication Lab for the development of new brick conceptsMarigny, New Orleans, LA

How will evolving digital fabrication technologies affect historic crafts?:Public backlash to sterile modern concrete, glass, and metalconstruction has positioned brick, wood, and stone to return to the forefront of design. Traditional materials and methods of construction contain inherent cultural content and performative advantages. While seeking a bridge between historic and modern architecture, the trend toward high-craft and high-tech production methods offers the opportunity to reinterpret traditional construction technology for design.

The role of Architecture in the development of novel material applications:The St. Joe Brick Fabrication Lab acts as a showcase and testing infrastructure for novel brick digital fabrication concepts developed within the building. The building program exists within a lightweight structure surrounded by self-supporting brick walls. Innovations from the lab are tested within these walls for particular characteristics including structural capability and weathering over time. Here, the defintion of a brick is extended to include changing modular sizes, novel materials, varying levels of openness, and digitally driven processes. This new path for St. Joe combines historic material expertise and contemporary design.

Jack Waterman


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Transience And Permanence

Reconciling needs for neighborhood stability and programmatic flexibility in New Orleans’ charter schools

How should we build when a school system becomes a system of schools?The existing built infrastructure of New Orleans’ public schools, imbued with edificial permanence, does not relate well to the changing needs of the charter-based occupants. An architecture that is permanent implies a defined, unchanging entity; yet, this concept is inherently incompatible with a system that is as prone to transience as that of the charter schools. Constancy, rather than permanence, must drive the design of new schools by allowing the variables associated with the charter school system to shift within a defined parameter; thereby, the school building instills order within an otherwise undefined system.

Anchoring shifting occupantsThe design response for an incubator school, situated on the location of the now-demolished Hoffman Elementary School, attempts to connect to existing community programming of Taylor Park. “Core” elements anchor the school to the site by providing both community and educational programmatic spaces within a stereotomic structure. “Composite” elements stretch across the site in bars reminiscent of the original Hoffman school, constructed of a flexible architecture that defines an constant exterior envelope from which classroom spaces are altered independently.

Katie Werner


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Permeable Urban Infrastructure

The opportunity of Urban Mass Transportation to re-connect the disjointed city

A Return to DensityCompared to the rest of the world, public transportation is vastly underutilized in the United States. Historically, suburbanization and our auto-centric culture caused Americans to cower away from urban density. On the other hand, recent settlement trends confirm that Americans show a renewed interest in the city. The ideas promoting this return to density are focused on creat-ing a lifestyle that is environmentally, financially, and health-wise sustainable. Architectural opportunities exist at public transportation terminals to reshape the way we think about our daily commute. By creating permeable boundaries, architecture and infrastructure can re-connect disparate parts the city and sup-port a new generation in search of both mobility and livability.

New Union Station - Los Angeles, CaliforniaAs the second most populous city in the country, Los Angeles lacks the density of its peers; however, it currently follows the same trend as the rest of the nation, where a younger population show a renewed interest in urban den-sity. The historic Union Station is located near downtown but is disconnected from the city. This investigation aims to increase connections from the station to adjacent parts of downtown. The New Union Station builds upon existing transportation infrastructure to re-connect the city.

Fan “Frank” Xiong


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Diagnosing the Asylum

Social reintegration-based mental health care for New Orleans’ 7th ward community

Description of the thesis issues or questions:How can architecture address the simultaneously growing and converging instances of mental illness and homelessness present in New Orleans? How can reimagining the social construct of the asylum seamlessly integrate all mem-bers of society in an interconnected and cohesive way? The solution to mental illness is just as much social and environmental as it is medical, and the strong correlation between mental health and poverty presents the opportunity for an architectural intervention.

Description of the thesis project and site:The proposal is located in the heart of the 7th ward on a block that was deemed able to be sacrificed by the city of New Orleans for the construction of I-10 in the late 1960s. With the recent revitalization of the area with the rebirth of the Circle Foods Store, the proposal addresses the site on several levels. Fol-lowing the historic typology of the asylum, the building functions in three parts with a central administration unit. Where previous asylum typologies fall short is the lack of a social reintegration aspect, which is vital to both help patients become functioning units in their daily lives and also to help attempt to tie a broken community back together.

Meredith Zelenka

homeless shelters, crisis centers, rehabilitation centers, transition housing

mental health clinics and support centers

homeless congregation



Documents

Thesis guide booklet 2014 pages